Media Bits and Bytes – All-Facebook Edition

Don’t ask users; Don’t ask Zuckerberg; Don’t ask the workforce; Bad news for democracy; Bad news for news; The good news

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Mark Zuckerberg in Piedmont, South Dakota, in July.,


America Doesn't Trust Facebook

By Casey Newton
October 27, 2017
The Verge

Despite Facebook’s ubiquity in public life, there remain large gaps in the public understanding about what Facebook is, and how it works.

Does Even Mark Zuckerberg Know What Facebook Is?

By Max Read
October 1, 2017
New York Magazine

The same company that gives you birthday reminders also helped ensure the integrity of the German elections.

 

People at Facebook Don’t Know How Facebook Works

By Kashmir Hill
October 13, 2017
Gizmodo

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This big blue machine plays an ever-expanding role in society and in the lives of many individual users, but no one seems to have a solid grasp on either the minutiae of what’s going on there or the larger repercussions of it.

How People Inside Facebook are Reacting to the Company’s Election Crisis

By Charlie Warzel
October 20, 2017
BuzzFeed

Many employees feel like they’re part of an unjust narrative that’s spiraled out of control.

Opinion: Why Facebook’s Dual News Feed Pilot is a Nightmare for Publishers

By Manish Maheshwari
October 28, 2017
Moneycontroll

Facebook shouldn’t create barriers that render quality content irrelevant. If it does, the very pillar on which news media stands, will lose its value...
 

Social Media Bots Threaten Democracy. But We Are Not Helpless

By Samuel Woolley and Marina Gorbis
October 16, 2017
The Guardian
Ever-more sophisticated Facebook and Twitter bots can sway political opinions. We have the technology to counter this – we need the will to use it.